Wearing walking boots and wearing a raincoat, Yu Chenglong raised his head and glanced at the gloomy weather, with ripples in his heart.

As early as the early years of Shaowu's reign, the provincial examination was implemented on a trial basis in Shanxi. After many years of failure, he soon passed the examination and became a county magistrate.

Jinshi are officials, and their official term is three years, and they can be promoted in about two years. But he stayed for three full years, and finally received an excellent rating.

After that, he was promoted to the county magistrate of Fuguo in the provincial capital, and then he was promoted to the government official and general magistrate. In the year before last, he was finally promoted to the capital and worked in the Ministry of Industry as a Yuanwailang.

Although his official position was in the Ministry of Industry, except for a few orders at the beginning, most of his subsequent assignments were in the Huainan area.

At the end of last year, because many polders were built in Huainan, which attracted the attention of the Ministry of Industry, he was promoted to the rank of doctor, the fifth rank.

It took him seven years to go from the seventh level to the current fifth level.

"Lang Guan, are you still going out today?"

When he got off the tower, two officers were holding mules, wearing raincoats and carrying waist knives. Although it looked breezy, their trousers and sleeves were stuck with mud, making him look very miserable.

There is no way, the servants in the Water Department of the Ministry of Industry are doing hard work.

"It's okay in Pizhou, let's go back to Gaoyou and have a look."

Yu Chenglong shook his head, with a hint of contemplation on his slightly wizened face. He decisively mounted his mule and, led by the guards, slowly headed south.

Originally it was safest to take a boat, but at this time of year, the Yellow River is overflowing and the canals are crowded, so it is better to travel quickly.

In this regard, Yu Chenglong has no complaints about the hard work.

The two officers' mouths were bitter and they wanted to say a few words, but they could only give up now.

Rushing on a rainy day, legs covered with yellow mud, this errand does not look like something that an official could do?

After running around for a long time, the three of them arrived at a tea shop on the roadside.

There were three or five wooden tables, a wooden shed made of straw, and a simple stable. The cover fluttered in the wind, and even though it was covered with yellow mud, the merchant didn't care.

The mules were placed in the stables and served with several bales of hay, which they did not mind.

The two officers asked: "Lang Guan, what are you going to eat today?"

"Same as before." Yu Chenglong shook his head and said casually.

The older officer sighed and casually ordered: "Give this official a plate of vegetarian dishes, a plate of scrambled eggs, and a pot of tea."

"The same goes for both of us."

Although the three of them were traveling together, the officials were very different and the dining tables must be separated.

"By the way, let's add some juice to the mule!" Yu Chenglong thought of something, took out a silver dollar from his arms, and stuffed it into the arms of the two of them:

"You two have worked hard with me today, so I'll give you one more bottle of wine!"

“Pizhou’s rice wine is very good.”

The two of them were moved and glanced at Yu Chenglong, and couldn't help but admire him even more.

Food and accommodation like theirs are only free at the inn, and the rest need to be paid for by yourself.

Seeing the sky's frequent travels, even Yu Chenglong felt that he was in a pinch, let alone the servants like them.

Yu Chenglong carefully ate the eggs with chopsticks, holding the steamed bun in his hand, feeling quite emotional in his heart.

Who would have known that hundreds of years ago, before the Yellow River changed its course, the Huaibei region was dominated by rice? Now it is replaced by wheat.

The young waiter was recruiting customers, while his wife was wearing an apron and cooking vegetables. The old man was holding his grandson, his face wrinkled, staring at the rain in the distance in a daze.

The child blinked his big eyes, ran to the table and stared at the eggs, hugging the old black table legs and not letting go.

Yu Chenglong smiled knowingly, picked up an egg with his chopsticks, and put it directly to his mouth.

The little guy looked back at his father, while the young boss shook his head.

Yu Chenglong put the egg directly into his mouth without any explanation, and then said with a smile: "I think this little guy is smart."

The boss smiled and said: "The guest is kind-hearted, it's a coincidence that he met me."

"Eggs are not a rare thing -" Yu Chenglong shook his head slightly: "You raise a lot of ducks near Pizhou. There are not many eggs, but there should be a lot of duck eggs!"

At this time, the old man came over to hug his grandson and sat down on the creaking bench:

"Duck eggs are not as fragrant as chicken eggs!"

The diversion of the Yellow River to the south not only changed the two sides of the Huaihe River from a land of plenty to a world of wheat, but also caused the disappearance of many crisscrossing ditches and lakes.

A large number of saline-alkali lands prevailed, and reed marshes were everywhere, making Huai salt a specialty. Then ducks adapted to the reed marshes, and salted duck eggs became a specialty.

Gaoyou salted duck eggs are very famous, but I would like to ask which prefecture and county in Huaibei has duck eggs that are not delicious?

If you eat too much duck eggs, eggs become the most fragrant thing.

"Old man, how are you doing?"

Yu Chenglong ate the yellow and black steamed buns, and his throat hurt. He couldn't help but tear them into pieces and put them in a bowl to make a paste. He ate them with the vegetables between his chopsticks.

"Life is just like that, just make do with it!" The old man glanced at his raincoat, not caring about his official background.

He is quite old and the government will not arrest him.

"But there will be no more war after all, and the world will be at peace..."

The old man muttered, and then a glimmer of light appeared on his face.

At this time, the boss who stopped working also came over and said: "Actually, war is not all bad. My fortune was earned by my father back then..."

Yu Chenglong was stunned and looked at the old man.

The old man showed a hint of pride: "When the slaves went south, the imperial court organized everyone to retreat, so I took his mother and him to Fengyang, and I helped in the army. After all, I was in charge of the food."

"I was busy pulling boats from the canal and working as a tracker to move grain for two or three months. The slaves were driven away and I was half exhausted."

"However, maybe because I won, the court also gave me a tael of silver. I used the money to build a shed and sell tea near the official road. Although there are not as many people as the canal, I still have no worries about eating and drinking."

Yu Chenglong admired the old man's wisdom and ability. Being able to survive in troubled times and build a small business was already considered very good.

"The price of grain in Pizhou is not high and has not changed much. A bucket of grain costs about sixty cents..."

"Salt is quite cheap, only twenty cents per pound..."

Finally, when he asked about the river work, the old man fell silent.

He muttered a few words before finally speaking: "This Xuzhou Mansion was destroyed by river workers——"

Yu Chenglong was silent.

is not that right?

Almost every year when there is a summer flood in spring, all the prefectures in Huaibei have to recruit river workers to build embankments. Occasionally, when there is danger, all the old women and children have to work, and they have to collect money.

What's more, when the materials are not enough, people's homes will have to be demolished.

Because of this Yellow River, Huaibei and Jiangnan are in the same province, but they are two different worlds.

The key is that behind the frequent river construction, you may not be able to enjoy peace, but there may also be a flood, with people and property lost, families destroyed.

Who doesn't hate it?

After a meal, the three of them continued on their way.

Yu Chenglong felt quite depressed at this time.

When we were in Huainan, the people were combing ditches and building polders. Most of the people were happy, but they didn't resist the river construction very much.

In Huaibei, everyone fears river engineering as much as a tiger.

If you were not born in Huaibei, who wouldn’t want to move?

When they arrived at Huai'an Prefecture and Shanyang County, what shocked them the most was the roaring Yellow River.

Everywhere you look is turbid yellow.

The narrow Huaihe River channel has now become the territory of the Yellow River, running unbridled and flowing eastward into the sea.

What about the Huaihe River water? It can only go to the downstream estuaries, and most of it is opposite to Hongze Lake.

Hongze Lake has become a suspended lake above the ground.

The height of its embankment reaches an astonishing six feet. It is extremely eye-catching from a distance, and the pressure coming towards you is daunting.

Gaojiayan, the man-made Hongze Lake dam, is reinforced and raised almost every once in a while, making it the most important place in the entire north.

And you must know that Hongze Lake has been continuously expanding its area for hundreds of years, and it has become endless and difficult to measure.

The Huaihe River, which has no mouth into the sea, is constantly pouring in water, causing its area to continue to expand.

Gaojiayan used a narrow channel entrance. Once the water volume of Hongze Lake increases sharply and exceeds its burden, it will tilt out and the Yellow River will burst its embankment.

At that time, the Huaihe River and the Yellow River will flood together. This is not the consequence of 1+1.

Even to a certain limit, many people speculate that the Yellow River and the Yangtze River will even merge into the sea.

"Fortunately, the canal is no longer responsible for water transportation. The imperial court can do its best to regulate the Yellow and Huaihe rivers without any worries."

Yu Chenglong showed a smile.

Officials from the Ministry of Industry, including Yu Chenglong, are now gathered in Shanyang County, Huai'an, waiting for the arrival of the Minister of Industry.
To be continued...